Above The Flames (The Flames Trilogy #1) (27 page)

He grabbed her elbow, and then extended her arm out. He put his cheek against her skin, rubbed it along the length of her arm. “So soft. Smooth.”

She yanked her arm toward her, but his hold proved too strong to shake. “Please. I’m sorry. Just let me go.” She reached inside.
Please come out. I need you now! I will never ask for anything again if you just help me now!
Her power responded, but again, withdrew inside. A tear slid from her eye.

Bael lifted her shirt, exposing her belly. His face was course against her skin, like he had some stubble, as he rubbed his cheek against her.

He curled her arm around his face, putting her fingers in his hair. “This is how a woman should touch a man. Not with a rock to his face. That was rather naughty.” He pushed her down with a palm to her chest, then extended his index finger and moved it up and down in front of her. “But you will think better of it next time.”

He backhanded her. She grimaced, but managed to not cry out. Until the third hit. The bones in his hand felt like bricks when they assaulted her face, and the pain, which started with a tingle and spread to a burn, throbbed by the end. She tasted blood and smelled sulfur. Jasmine didn’t think he would ever stop hitting her. Over and over he continued, until her cheek was numb and tears leaked from her eyes. Then he pulled back and strapped her free arm down.

She tried to keep her swollen mouth shut, but anger surged through her and exploded out. “Does it make you feel like more of a man when you hit a helpless woman?”

A glint shown from Bael’s eyes, but he said nothing. Then he ambled away, straight out the door. Humming the whole way.

Chapter 34

Defeated

Shuffling feet woke Jasmine. Her eyes fluttered as she spotted a red-eyed demon at the foot of the table she was strapped too. “What’s going on?” Her voice was lazy, slurred. “Please, be careful. My fingers…” Her eyes shot open and her heart raced as the demon fidgeted with the leather strap at her ankle.

“Don’t worry, I remember.” Moloch said.

“Moloch, it’s only you. What are you doing?”

“He’s unstrapping you.” A high-pitched voice spoke from beside her. “So I can move you.”

Jasmine’s head whipped to her side to see Bael. “Where are you taking me?” Her stomach felt empty, like butterflies were swarming inside.

Bael laughed. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

Jasmine raised her voice. “I can’t wait!” She rolled her eyes, the movement putting strain on her facial muscles and making her remember the beating she had taken. She cringed.

Moloch moved to her side and started unfastening her good hand. Bael started working on her bad one. She tensed, preparing for pain. Instead, Bael pushed his arms under her and lifted her from the table. “How are the fingers, Jasmine? They look a little…swollen!” He cackled.

“The swelling gives me an extra layer of padding. You know, like a pillow. So, all in all, I think they are pretty good.”

Bael walked toward the door, yelling over his shoulder. “Stay here! Let me know if they arrive!”

“If I see the fallen angels, you will be the first I tell,” Moloch said.

Jasmine left her prison in Bael’s arm, her body bouncing as he stepped toward the woods. She tried to lean to the side, leaving as much space between them as she could, but he pulled her closer. Her skin crawled everywhere his hands touched her.

A shiver ran down her spine as a dog howled, creating a domino effect as more dogs joined in. Although it didn’t sound like a normal dog. At least not one she’d ever heard. Maybe a wolf? But she’d never heard one of those. She mentally shrugged, and again reached inside to pull her power out. It sparked to life, but the life drained away as quickly as it had come.
Come on! Work with me, here!

Instead of pumping blood, her veins pumped fear. Her muscles tensed, the movement in her ankle jarred the pain to life. She gritted her teeth and focused on not moving any more injured extremities.
Easier said than done, Jaz.

Bael carried her into the woods. Large trees loomed above them and seemed to get bigger, leaving less space for Bael to squeeze through. A crescent moon shone through the treetops, like an ornament hanging on a tree. Stars twinkled overhead, like tiny diamonds in a midnight black sky. And here she was, being carried by an evil demon who wanted nothing more than to turn her evil and use her power for his own bidding. Her life, as little as it was worth, was completely in Bael’s hands. She closed her eyes and called to her power. Again. This time, it didn’t answer.

“Where are we going?” she whispered.

Bael angled his head down. A glint of amusement sparkled from his dark eyes. “I told you. It’s a surprise.”

Silence came after, so much that the crunching of leaves as Bael rushed sounded like it had been played from a loudspeaker. Eventually, Bael stopped. He plopped her down before a thin, tall tree. A rope had been tied around the base, and he wrapped it around her waist, stretched it up to her wrists, and tightened it.

She swallowed around a lump in her throat. “I guess this is my new prison?” Behind her eyelids, a burning sensation spread like wildfire. She blinked, but didn’t open her eyes.

“You catch on quickly.” Bael roared with laughter. “I think this tree will keep you company for a while. Hopefully your friends get here soon. If they don’t…”

Jasmine slumped into the bark behind her. It scraped her back, even through the black shirt she wore.

Bael crouched down, his arms stretched over his legs. “Oh, look. She has nothing to say.” He put one hand on his chest. “I can’t believe we’ve seen the day when Jasmine has no witty retort.” He used the other hand to slap her broken fingers.

She cried out. There was no point in trying to bottle up the pain any longer. She would die out here. She knew that now. Nobody would save her in time. And even if they made it to her, Bael wanted to kill the fallen ones. A dizziness overtook her, and it looked like Bael was standing on top of a wave. Her stomach flip flopped, and the nausea overtook her. She barely had time to lean over before the contents of her stomach exploded out of her mouth.

Bael smiled and narrowed his eyes. “I guess your hand isn’t fine. Is it?”

Jasmine gritted her teeth. “Of course it isn’t, you moron. You—” she panted around the burning pain in her hand, “—you broke all of my fingers!”

“A bit of honesty never hurt anyone.” He frowned. “Although, I would be careful with name-calling. That can hurt, deeply.” He turned and moved to the tree behind him where a small black box sat on the ground. He flipped the top open, pulling out a small machete. “Now for the fun.”

Bael’s eyes softened as he looked at the blade. Jasmine could picture him laying it on the ground, bowing before it, and worshiping it. “Wh-what are you gonna d-do with th-that?” she stammered.

He swaggered over to her, holding the knife at his side. Jasmine gazed up at him, her muscles tense. He dropped down, and at the same time swung the blade across her arm. Her skin burned, as if on fire, and tingled numbly. She bit the inside of her lip as her teeth ground together. Blood welled, filling the cut until it spilled over. Jasmine dropped her jaw as the machete sliced across her thigh. Then again, two long cuts left behind. Plus the one on her arm. She breathed quickly but couldn’t get enough air. Dark spots formed behind her eyes.

Jasmine gazed up toward the sky, but she flinched as something wet dripped into her eye from above. She stretched her hand as far up as it would go and barely was able to wipe her eye. Then, she peered above her again. Jasmine gasped as realization hit her. The drop wasn’t rain, it was blood. There were bodies hanging from a branch. From what she could see, it looked like they hadn’t been there long.

There was a man, a short woman, and two small children.
It’s Doc.

“Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God!” Jasmine glared at Bael. “What did you do to them?”

“Doc failed me. Therefore I killed her. It’s quite simple, really.”

“Why did you kill her family?”

“She knew the risk when she signed up to work with Ronwe. You see, he was the only one able to get through the small opening before the gates fell. That is why he came after you, way in the beginning.”

Jasmine exhaled. “He’s the one who killed my father.”

Bael nodded. “And he was supposed to have brought you back to Hell, but he failed. If Amon hadn’t killed him, I would have. I don’t tolerate failure. Which is exactly why Doc died. She let you escape, so I made sure she couldn’t. Very simple, really.”

Jasmine pressed her lips together. She didn’t want to hear anymore.

“Ah, you don’t want to hear anymore.” Bael laughed hysterically. “Too bad. Let’s see. After I was imprisoned by your fallen angel beau, Belze let me go. He’d already captured Doc, and of course I already had her family. She knew that, but still she tried to escape.” Bael shrugged. “I will never understand the human mind. Alas, I didn’t kill them right away. I brought them all here, hung them from the branches. I cut them with my claw and watched them suffer. It was rather entertaining.”

Jasmine’s curled her lip and scrunched her face. “What the hell is wrong with you? Oh, I forgot. You’re psycho!”

Bael shook his head. “Ah. If only that were true.” He raised his voice. “I am a demon, Jasmine. We kill. We take what we want, and damn the consequences. We don’t feel human emotions. It’s better if you wrap your pretty little head around that now.”

Jasmine pursed her lips and shook her head violently. “No. I won’t get used to it. I won’t work for you. You’ll have to kill me before I ever turn evil.”

“Then so be it.” His gaze stretched passed her as another dog howled. “If your friends don’t show up, you will die anyway.”

Loud thumping sounded in the distance. Growls filled the air with a threat of violence. “What is that?” She pushed her back into the tree as if she could disappear inside it.

Big black dogs barreled toward her, their sharp yellow teeth snapping as they snarled and growled. They sniffed the air and slowed their steps, walking toward her.

“The smell of blood draws my hell hounds.” Bael stood up. “And I can only keep them back so long. So, Amon needs to get here.
Now!
”

Her vision tunneled as darkness crept closer. Jasmine squeezed her eyes shut. She took deep breaths, but the world spun around her as the hell hounds sniffed her skin, leaving a trail of slime behind. “You aren’t doing a very good job at keeping them back.” She pulled her legs up and inched closer to the tree, forgetting the pain in her ankle. It meant nothing right now. The dogs howled, and she jumped, opening her eyes.

“The clock’s ticking. Where is he?”

“Right behind you!” A loud thump sounded and Jasmine opened her eyes. Amon tackled Bael to the ground. There were three hell hounds caging her in, their teeth nibbling at the blood on her arm and thighs. They had short black hair, their gray skin visible below it. Red patches surrounded their beady black eyes, which bore into her own. Her heart palpitated.

The hell hounds all yelped loudly, the sound piercing Jasmine’s ears. Then they sauntered off, back the way they came. Lamia grabbed the rope and unwound the knots around her wrists then pulled it from her. “Come on. Hurry!”

Jasmine tried to stand up, and fell back down when she tried to put pressure on her bad ankle. She was lifted by arms pulling under her armpits. She hobbled forward, but hissed in pain.

“What’s wrong?” Lamia’s face came in front of Jasmine’s.

Jasmine’s eyes watered. “What isn’t wrong? My ankle is broken, my fingers are broken. The bones in my face feel shattered. I don’t know if I can walk.”

Lamia moved behind her and lifted her up. “I’ll just carry you to Gemma. She can heal you.”

“Jaz, are you all right?” Beau asked, coming to their side.

Jasmine sighed. “Yeah. I’ll be fine. Help Amon.”

Bael was on top of Amon, on the ground. They were grappling with each other.

Beau frowned. “I don’t think there’s much I can do.”

“Just stay here, and help him if you can. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Beau nodded and moved away. Lamia rushed forward.

“Gemma is just ahead. We had her stay back with Azzy, just in case,” Lamia said.

“That was a good move.”

Lamia gazed down at Jasmine, and for the first time, Jasmine saw respect shining from the fallen angel’s eyes.

“Thank you for coming for me,” Jasmine whispered.

Lamia smiled. “I’m just glad we made it in time.”

“Jasmine! You’re okay!” Gemma ran to her side and winced. “Well, maybe not okay, but you’re alive!”

“Can you heal me? My ankle and my hand? My face?”

Gemma nodded. “Of course.”

Lamia set her down gently on the grass, and Gemma’s yellow hand trailed over Jasmine’s skin, warming her until she was healed. When Gemma pulled back, Jasmine hopped up, a surge of adrenaline causing her arms and legs to shake.

“Thank you! Now we have to go help Amon.”

Gemma frowned. “I don’t think I can do much.”

Jasmine peered around the clearing. Cole sat on the ground, his hands at his temples. Azzy flew above them, circling the air.

“Gem, don’t you remember what happened when we all joined our powers? Let’s go do that again.”

Gemma smiled. “I’m game.” She turned and raised her voice. “Cole, let’s go join our powers and kill some demons.”

Cole rose to his feet, grabbing one of Jasmine’s hands and one of Gemma’s. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Lamia followed them, but remained silent as they walked back into the woods.

I hope my power decides to work. I’m scared to try again right now. I think it will be better once I join with Gemma and Cole.

Moments later, they found Amon still locked in a bloody battle. His face was cut, blood smeared all across his cheeks and forehead. An eye was swollen shut, and he had a fat lip. His shirt hung in scraps, exposing most of his skin. Jasmine’s nostrils flared.

Muscles quivering, Jasmine squeezed Gemma’s hand. “I’m ready.”

She reached into herself, deep within to her box. She flipped the lid, coaxing her power out. It spilled over the sides, and then evaporated into mist.

“Uh—Jaz. Something’s wrong,” Gemma said.

“Yeah, my power isn’t working out here,” Cole said.

Sweat lined Jasmine’s brow. “What the hell is that?”

Above them, wide pearl-colored wings beat and an angel lowered herself to the ground. “Evangeline! Thank God you’re here.” Jasmine raised her voice.